Football
Features
Malaysian FA pushes club privatisation but weak revenues mean state support is here to stay
Malaysia’s football clubs are to be formally privatised this year, but the journey from state support to self-sufficiency looks fraught, with questions over the future of broadcasting and sponsorship revenues. John Duerden takes a closer look.
Dan Haddad | Liverpool takes a chance on Nike in search of sales growth
Dan Haddad, head of commercial strategy at Octagon UK, looks at the potential upside for Liverpool in opting to switch kit supplier rights from New Balance to Nike.
Ajax’s Champions League run boosts visibility, but growth is underpinned by creative commercial team
Ajax's global popularity outstrips all of its domestic rivals, allowing the club to position itself as a brand platform for the Netherlands and beyond. Its chief commercial officer, Menno Geelen, tells Adam Nelson about the effects of Ajax's surprising run to the Champions League semi-finals, and how a creative commercial department has helped the club compete at the highest level.
Young, gifted and Parisian: why PSG means more than football to global youth
PSG wants the same kind of brand cachet as baseball’s New York Yankees or Italian motor racing team Ferrari. Frank Dunne reports.
Unsuccessful initial tender raises questions over K-League’s domestic media strategy
Pooling media rights to Korea’s K-League with national-team matches was supposed to create a property more valuable than the sum of its parts. John Duerden investigates why it isn’t working yet.
Red Bull Bragantino is latest Brazilian club to sign NetBet sponsorship
Brazilian football club Red Bull Bragantino has added online gambling company NetBet to its sponsorship portfolio for the 2020 season
No rights awarded by Belgian Pro League as new tender considered
Belgium’s Pro League has opted against awarding any domestic rights following the submission of bids by rival broadcasters and media groups, and is weighing up the possibility of launching a new invitation t…
Sky Deutschland adds on-demand football highlights to its platforms
Germany pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has announced that it will be making its German football and Uefa Champions League highlights, along with a host of other sporting properties, available…
Belgian Pro League clubs meet to award rights amid strong Mediapro interest
The 24 clubs from Belgian soccer’s top two divisions are meeting today to potentially award domestic broadcast rights from 2020-21 onwards amid strong interest from Mediapro, the agency and production g…
A 2021 Club World Cup can deliver on both Chinese and Fifa ambitions
Why Fifa has chosen to host the 2021 Club World Cup in China, and how the competition is a step forward towards China's football ambitions. Zhang Dan reports.
João Félix, Ryan Giggs and Miralem Pjanic set for the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards as Best Partnership Award makes debut
João Félix of Atlético Madrid Will be joined by football legends Ryan Giggs and Miralem Pjanić on stage at the 11th edition of the annual Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, organised in partnership with Dubai Spo…
Football and Rocket League: A burgeoning relationship on the rocks
Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco have all invested in Rocket League esports, but the business case for doing so is shaky at best. Callum McCarthy examines an esport with huge, unfulfilled potential.
Uefa and Team get off to winning Champions League start but caution prevails
Media rights increases for the Uefa Champions League in the UK, US and France have vindicated Team Marketing's decision to start its sales process early in these markets. But the agency won't be getting carried away just yet, writes Frank Dunne.
Beneliga discussion surfaces again, but is more of a symptom than a solution
The ever-growing influence of Europe’s top-five leagues is squeezing the life out of professional football in Europe’s lowlands. Callum McCarthy examines the commercial pros and cons of a merger between the Dutch Eredivisie and the Belgian Pro League.
How the Bundesliga courted its Indonesian fanbase with Jakarta experience
The German Bundesliga runs live fan experience events in markets around the world to nurture its international fanbases. SportBusiness attended the Bundesliga Experience Jakarta in November to see how such an events is put together.
Turkish football creates its own FFP to deal with years of mismanagement
Turkey’s qualification for the finals of Uefa Euro 2020 has given the country’s football authorities fresh hope that their ‘Golden Generation’ of young players will help drive the commercial transformation of the …
New roadmap for Indian football seeks to lead ISL, I-League clubs to financial stability
After years of wrangling, a new roadmap has established the new Indian Super League as the top tier of Indian football ahead of the older I-League. But while the relatively glamorous competition has already improved Indian football off the pitch, there are major challenges ahead as clubs who participate continue to suffer financial losses and big clubs on the outside are yet to commit. John Duerden reports.
Real Madrid’s global partnership with Microsoft helps club to 30 per cent digital revenue growth
Spanish football giants Real Madrid have grown digital revenues over 30 per cent over the course of five-year partnership with Microsoft, creating a digital marketing platform that allows the club to engage with, and learn from, it's 450 million-strong global fanbase.
DFL wants Virtual Bundesliga to be seen as its third competition brand
The Bundesliga's esports property is seen as a valuable tool with which to engage a younger fanbase and expand the reach of the league and its commercial partners. Story by Bob Williams.
Bayern Munich at crossroads as club prepares for life without Hoeness and Rummenigge
As Bayern Munich have all but elected a new club president, Bob Williams takes a look at how the club's executive board is set to change in the coming seasons.
Kevin Sim – The Bundesliga’s navigator for the Asia-Pac media-rights market
The Bundesliga’s head of APAC Kevin Sim is deep in talks with potential media-rights partners for the cycle from 2020-21. Kevin McCullagh talks to him about his expectations for the market.
SportBusiness Soccer goes live to open new era for football sponsorship
SportBusiness Soccer has gone live with leading clubs from Europe’s major leagues already signed-up as clients.
Football risks ‘eating itself’ in the race for engagement, but digital may be a small part of the solution
Football has embraced social media in a huge way, but will its focus on digital technology undermine grassroots participation? Frank Dunne asks if the game is in danger of eating itself and looks at what Uefa is doing to prevent this.
Canadian Premier League off to solid start after filling void for players and fans
Seven-team competition is first professional soccer league in Canada since 1992
Clubs have averaged 4,300 fans a game but OneSoccer digital ratings not made public
Aston Villa looking to turn fan engagement into commercial revenue with new loyalty card scheme
Data-led fan engagement platform Fortress and Barclays have developed a new universal payment scheme at Aston Villa FC, aiming to deepen the connection between a club and its fans and open up whole new commercial revenue opportunities in the process.
Sevilla’s back-room operations working to catch up with team performance in modernisation push
Market research conducted in 2014 showed that success on the field was not translating into awareness off it for La Liga side Sevilla FC. Frank Dunne looks at how the club has subsequently addressed this, doubling commercial revenues to €18m.
Liverpool v New Balance: six things we learned
Liverpool FC’s legal dispute with New Balance has provided unprecedented insights into the minutiae of a modern Premier League kit supplier agreement. Ben Cronin looks at some of the details from the case and examines what they say about the club and the brands involved.
Dynamic approach driving Bundesliga internationally
In association with the Bundesliga